Router-> switch 1 computer works, other is 169.xxx

Hey guys,
This is a follow up to my last question. I have a router which hooks into a netgear prosafe switch. From the switch, two computers are hooked up. One computer works fine, the other one is giving me a 169.xxx address. Nothing that I have tried has worked.
Here are what I have tried:

1: ipconfig /release/renew
2: restarting router/switch (in every kind of order)
3: switching which cables use which ports in the switch.

Note: The cable running from the router to the switch is a long drop, so that cable cannot be replaced. I'm using patch cable to connect computer 2 (169.xxx computer) to the switch. The run from the switch to computer 2 is fairly long, in the sense that I have to stick to the floorboards and over door jambs, so I need a 50ft cable.

I've never had a problem with hooking up a switch to a router before, so I'm baffled.

The more that I read, the more I'm beginning to think it might be the cabling. I'm not sure whether the long drop cable hooking into the switch is a patch or crossover cable. If it is a patch cable, is there anything I can do to solve this issue without replacing the cable?(would be very expensive)

I would try to hook up the PC that is working fine to the other cable.. If that doesn't work then I would think it was the cable. If you have crimpers (http://www.amazon.com/Delcast%C2%...B0051HO8YQ) re-terminate the cable.

Quote from dandlewood : The more that I read, the more I'm beginning to think it might be the cabling. I'm not sure whether the long drop cable hooking into the switch is a patch or crossover cable. If it is a patch cable, is there anything I can do to solve this issue without replacing the cable?(would be very expensive)

Do you see a solid connection light on the port the cable is on? Check both the switch and router to be sure there is a solid connection both ways.

Most router, switches and network cards nowadays comes with auto sensing ports that automatically switches between patch and crossover. Have you tried the 50ft cable with another computer? Its another way to test whether the cable is any good.

Quote from slightlycasual : I would try to hook up the PC that is working fine to the other cable.. If that doesn't work then I would think it was the cable. If you have crimpers (http://www.amazon.com/Delcast%C2%...B0051HO8YQ) re-terminate the cable.

This is bizarre. I swapped around all the cables. I cannot get the DHCP server to issue this 2nd computer an IP address no matter what. I even bought a crossover cable to try to throw that in the mix, but nadda. Tried disabling firewall (not sure why that would have any effect), tried uninstalling/reinstalling the network adapter. Such a headache.

Quote from CrappySyntax : Do you see a solid connection light on the port the cable is on? Check both the switch and router to be sure there is a solid connection both ways. Most router, switches and network cards nowadays comes with auto sensing ports that automatically switches between patch and crossover. Have you tried the 50ft cable with another computer? Its another way to test whether the cable is any good.

yeah, the 50 foot cable, when plugged into computer 1 works. two solid green lights on the switch, same on the router. Also, the 50 foot cable worked with the same computer on a different network yesterday.

Could this somehow play into it-> Yesterday when I built the PC, I hooked it up to my home network and set it's homegroup so that I could easily load some files from my main pc. I deleted the homegroup, but maybe this is having some adverse effect? I'm throwing darts blindfolded over here.

One other wrench which may/may not be helpful. all other clients on this network are xp. The new computer which doesn't work uses windows 7.

Well we know the switch and router are fine. Sounds like the cable is fine too. That only leaves the NIC. Under your nic card settings, you have everything set to automatic and under the advanced settings make sure it syas DHCP enabled under ip addresses...

As an aside, how old is the switch? I mention this because a client of mine had a rather old (antiquated) Cisco switch that was giving all of the computers in the office fits. All computers in the office would have 169.xx.xx.xx IP addresses for a period of time and eventually receive an IP address from the DHCP server. I really couldn't figure out why all computers were acting funky until I bypassed the switch and used another switch. Suddenly all computers got IP addresses immediately.

As an aside, you may want to try manually inputting IP information into the problematic computer and see if it's able to communicate with other computers in your network.

For Windows 7, you go to "Network and Sharing Center" -> Click on the link to the right of "Connections" -> Click on the button Titled "Properties" under Activity -> Select "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" -> Click "Properties" -> Click the radio button titled "Use the following IP address"

From there, you just need to type in the 3 values at the top:
IP Address: Something that follows the same form as the rest of the computers attached to your network, e.g. 192.168.1.XXX for Linksys routers or 192.168.0.XXX for Netgear routers. Any number that isn't already taken should work.
Subnet Mask: Should be filled in for you, but will probably be 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: Make this the IP address you use to access your router, e.g. 192.168.1.1

Hit OK until you're back to the Network and Sharing Center. Now, try to ping one of the computers in your network (find the IP address from that computer before hand). Open up the command prompt (Run -> CMD) and type in: "Ping 192.168.1.XXX" where the number listed is the IP address of the target computer. See if the ping is successful.

If the ping is successful, that means the computer can still communicate with the network, but there is a problem with the router giving the networking information to your computer. If the ping is unsuccessful, it means the computer is not communicating with the network at all.

Quote from dandlewood : One other wrench which may/may not be helpful. all other clients on this network are xp. The new computer which doesn't work uses windows 7.

Quote from dandlewood : Could this somehow play into it-> Yesterday when I built the PC, I hooked it up to my home network and set it's homegroup so that I could easily load some files from my main pc. I deleted the homegroup, but maybe this is having some adverse effect? I'm throwing darts blindfolded over here.

Another thought came to mind. Go to the "Network and Sharing Center" with the computer plugged into the switch. If you can, post a screen shot of the Network and Sharing Center displaying the map at the top as well as the "View your active networks" section underneath. There is the chance that the network is named, but is possibly a "public network" and your computer may have been set to not communicate with a "Public Network". In which case, you may need to switch it back to a "Home Network" or "Work Network". I have a strong feeling this (or something related) may be the issue if you were already able to communicate with the network before.

Try the static IP approach above and see if you can communicate with the network and ping another computer.

Quote from dandlewood : yeah, the 50 foot cable, when plugged into computer 1 works. two solid green lights on the switch, same on the router. Also, the 50 foot cable worked with the same computer on a different network yesterday. Could this somehow play into it-> Yesterday when I built the PC, I hooked it up to my home network and set it's homegroup so that I could easily load some files from my main pc. I deleted the homegroup, but maybe this is having some adverse effect? I'm throwing darts blindfolded over here.

Is there a link light on the NIC and the switch?

Homegroups only deals with shares/permissions and does not handle networking protocols.

From reading your other post sound like the previous computers were using static IPs. Do you know if your router has DHCP disable? or MAC filtering turn on? or any other configuration that might prevent it from handing out an IP address?

Quote : netsh int ip reset reset.log

Run this command to reset the TCP/IP stack on the LAN connection for your NIC. Also uncheck TCP/IPv6 in the properties for the LAN connection. Reboot and see if it helps.

Update the NIC driver on computer2 from either the NIC manufacturer or the NIC chip website, clean the RJ45 pin contacts, and restart the computer.

This is a brand new h61 board, installed the driver right org the disk. Couldn't ping other computers using the above method. Windows 7 views the network as"unidentified public network". Also ran the command line, disabled ipv6 and restarted. No luck

Quote from dandlewood : This is a brand new h61 board, installed the driver right org the disk. Couldn't ping other computers using the above method. Windows 7 views the network as"unidentified public network". Also ran the command line, disabled ipv6 and restarted. No luck

AH ha "Unidentified Public Network" is possibly the problem. In "Network and Sharing Center" underneath "View your active networks", click on the text "Unidentified Public Network" that highlights. Select either "Home" or "Work" network and see if that solves the problem.